Holy Week at Church of Our Redeemer

The services of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil – the Triduum – are the heart of the Christian worship experience. Each year, we renew our faith by participating in this special worship, which is really one service spread out over three nights. This year, more than ever, we can be strengthened and comforted by walking through Holy Week together.

There are several ways to participate in Holy Week this year:

Live-Streaming Worship from the Church of Our Redeemer

We will offer simple, meaningful worship directly from the church to you at home. Join us on Facebook or on our website.

• Maundy Thursday at 7:30 PM  |  Preacher:  The Rev. Kate Ekrem
  A simple service of footwashing and remembrance of Jesus’s servant ministry. You may wish to have a bowl, water, and towel at home.
   
• Good Friday at 7:30 PM  |  Preacher: The Rev. Andrew Goldhor
  Stations of the Cross, Sermon, and a reading of the Passion Gospel by Redeemer members.
   
• Easter Vigil at 7:30 PM:  |  Preacher:  The Rev. Kate Ekrem
  This service begins with candlelight and the singing of the Exultet, continues with the reading of the salvation story, and concludes with the first celebration of Easter.  You may wish to have a candle at home to light, a bowl of water for remembering baptism, and a bell to ring.

Easter Sunday we will tune in together to wonderful preaching and music from our Diocesan Cathedral and National Cathedral, with a Redeemer community Virtual Coffee Hour between the services. You may, of course, watch just one (or both) of the Easter Sunday worship services.

• 9:00 AM: Tune into our Diocesan Cathedral to watch together the pre-recorded Easter Sunday celebration. Preacher: The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates, Bishop of Massachusetts. https://www.diomass.org/videos-holy-week-2020
  
  This service is pre-recorded and can be watched at any time, but we’re asking the Redeemer community to be together in spirit viewing it at 9am if possible.
• 10:15 AM: Virtual Coffee Hour with the Redeemer community.
   
• 11:15 AM: Tune into the National Cathedral’s live-streaming Easter Sunday celebration. Preacher: The Most Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA. https://cathedral.org/worship/

Worship Offerings from our Diocese

The Diocese of Massachusetts is offering pre-recorded worship for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. The link to the recordings will be posted at https://www.diomass.org/videos-holy-week-2020 on the morning of each respective holy day.

• Maundy Thursday – The Maundy Thursday service will be offered from the monastery chapel of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge; Br. James Koester, Superior, will preach.
   
• Good Friday from the convent chapel of the Sisters of St. Margaret in Duxbury; Bishop Gayle Harris will preach.
   
• Easter Sunday will be from the Cathedral in Boston, as above.

Holy Week at Home

Your home is your worship sanctuary this Holy Week. Here are some resources for observing Holy Week at home. 

• You can prepare your own prayer space using these suggestions from the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. This spot might be a focal point during Holy Week.
  https://www.cgsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/HowToSetUpPrayerTable.pdf
   
• Here are some ideas for observing Holy Week with children, from Virginia Theological Seminary.  https://buildfaith.org/holy-week-at-home-family-practices-for-the-triduum/
   
• Here are some simple home-based worship services for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and  Easter from the Diocese of Massachusetts